Hospital laboratory outreach: benefits and planning.

A laboratory outreach program can benefit the hospital in several ways, such as increasing revenues, filling unused capacity, and solidifying relationships with the physician and patient communities. Building rapport with physicians and the community ultimately brings economic value to the hospital. To service this new market it is necessary to modify current systems and processes and develop new services. The areas most likely to be developed are logistics, service centers, client services, physician connectivity, billing, marketing, sales, and finance reporting. Developing efficient customer-related services is a key to reaping the benefits.